


Biomech ancillaries and the implications for human-AI relations: a preliminary study by Lieutenant Seivarden Vendaai

by kerricker



Category: Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
Genre: Other, mercy of kalr / physical sensation of all kinds, mercy of kalr / smooshing its face on various textured surfaces, shameless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-23 23:52:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13201257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kerricker/pseuds/kerricker
Summary: At some point post-series, that "clone our own ancillaries" project gets off the ground successfully, and Mercy of Kalr finally gets to have a body of its own again. Seivarden, a good and dutiful lieutenant, helps out with the test-drive. (Totally gratuitous spaceship/lieutenant fluff. Look, Mercy of Kalr has been through a lot, and if it wants to design itself a smoking hot biomech and then bang an officer, itdeservesto design itself a smoking hot biomech and then bang an officer, all right?)





	Biomech ancillaries and the implications for human-AI relations: a preliminary study by Lieutenant Seivarden Vendaai

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt referencing Preface to The Traveler’s Guide to the Two Systems (http://annleckie.tumblr.com/post/135987941906), according to which the Ro2S is eventually going to get that biomech thing worked out. For fic purposes I'm assuming this happens fairly quickly, partly because they have a number of compelling reasons to figure it out as fast as possible, and partly because Mercy of Kalr should have nice things. Including hot biomechs, as above.

No matter how much eagerness, scientific curiosity, and desire to have Sphene no longer hanging around your lab staring at you intensely while standing five centimeters too close you applied to the problem, successfully growing biomechs took time. The bodies alone couldn't be sped up past a certain point. Wrapping their nervous systems around the necessary implants during growth was, well, a process which unapproved medics had never been encouraged to get too curious about. Sphene had been enthusiastically willing to capture a few Anaander Mianaais so the Republic medics could get a closer look, but apparently it wouldn't be too helpful to just study the finished project. Sphene had argued that it certainly couldn't _hurt_ , and Breq had clearly been tempted, but in the end sensible strategy had overruled their mutual desire to go after the Lord of the Radch with a fishing net.

So there had been organizing, and committee meetings, and project management sessions. Excited scientists told Seivarden things about neurotransmitters while she tried to keep her eyes focused. By the time they had a biomech body ready to be decanted and tested, Tisarwat was approaching her twenty-fifth birthday.

Which Anaander Mianaai decided to celebrate with an interplanetary incident.

"This is ridiculous," Breq said, clipped and irritated. "She knows perfectly well she'd get no long-term advantage even if she could put it through, which she can't. All this will lead to is Tisarwat talking quickly and persuasively to a lot of people, and probably getting all of them to look on her as a favorite kid sister. Which may have been the entire point."

"She'll enjoy that," Seivarden said, having decided that 'look, does Anaander Mianaai think you and she are Tisarwat's mother and estranged other parent or something, and if so can we convince her that some nice earrings would be a more appropriate birthday present for her daughter?' probably wouldn't be helpful.

"She will. Exceedingly. Which is why I don't trust her to go alone." Breq clearly had something else to say. Seivarden waited for it. "I would have preferred to be present at the initial trial."

"You would merely sit through a lot of very boring medical testing, Fleet Captain," Ship said to both of them. "I'm sure Lieutenant Seivarden will be perfectly capable of handling that duty in your stead."

"Thanks, Ship." Breq probably thought she was showing no emotion. Seivarden bumped their shoulders together. "We'll send you visuals, you can stay up to date while you're stopping Tisarwat accidentally declaring herself empress of half a solar system."

"She does become carried away on occasion," Ship agreed, and, more softly, to Breq although Seivarden could hear it, "Seivarden can look after me." Breq didn't respond, but she did lean to the side a little so their shoulders could brush again.

 

The... you couldn't really call it "hooking up", maybe "powering on"... took place on Athoek Station. The head biomedicist had brought along half a dozen colleagues and a couple of grad students, and Sphene and Sword of Atagaris had both shown up to watch, so things were pretty crowded. Seivarden hung back against the wall and tried not to touch any of the equipment while the scientists flipped switches and looked at readouts and finally said, "Okay, initiating... _now_. Mercy of Kalr?"

"Checking," it said over the speakers, and the body on the lab bench moved. Pushed itself up on its elbows. Ceased to be medical equipment to Seivarden and became her ship, in person. "Connection is live, but it feels sluggish. There's no resistance, though -" It swung its legs over the edge of the bench, the biomedicist started to say something, and Seivarden shoved past Sword of Atagaris, which had been hanging back pretending it wasn't interested, in time to break its fall. 

"That's a good start," said Sphene.

"Perhaps we can reassess once it's had fully thirty seconds to adjust, cousin," Ship said. Seivarden had sunk to the floor against the bench - the ancillary's body was smaller than hers, but not much lighter. It was solid in her arms, its breath brushing against her neck. 

"The body's never moved on its own before, it's going to take time to establish muscle memory," the biomedicist said, going to her knees next to them. "Look this way, if you would?" She flashed a tiny light into the ancillary's eyes. Another of the scientists reached over Seivarden to re-tape an electrode. Nobody seemed to object to Seivarden holding it, so she didn't move. "Adequate pupil response. Can you vocalize?"

"I'll try it," Ship said, and the ancillary made a noise like breath hissing. Tried again and produced a sound like 'tsnnnn'. Stopped and took a couple of breaths. "Dessin. Tess-ting. _Testing_. The flower of justice iss - is peace. My heart is -" It had a coughing fit and leaned against Seivarden again. Its skin was warm and damp. For a split second she was reminded of kissing Ekalu's shoulder, her fresh from the baths - which was highly improper in the circumstances.

"Not bad," said the medic, sitting back on her heels. "Heart rate's steady-? Great. Then we may as well move on to _motor control testing_." Her eyes gleamed with scientific fascination. Well, Ship had warned her this would probably be lengthy.

It was. Sword of Atagaris drifted out to go do whatever it did with its spare time. Sphene eventually ran out of derogatory remarks and followed it. Seivarden curled up in a corner and went through her messages. Breq's most recent communiques described local sudden political upheaval in detail but were suspiciously vague about the inciting factors, so she'd probably been kneecapping people again. Amaat Three had sent a not-very-necessary report on the crew's current status; Seivarden sent back an acknowledgement with attached update on how the powering-on was going. After that there were local news reports to go over, and an article on traumatic stress Medic had wanted her to read for some reason...

"Lieutenant, are you awake?"

"Yes," Seivarden said automatically, blinking. "Uh. Maybe not. What?" Ship was standing over her, looking down inquisitively. The electrodes had been taken off, and it was wearing a Station-issue skirt and shirt in nonstandard colors.

"We've done about all we can for today," the biomedicist said over her shoulder. "Head back to your ship, get some walking practice, try eating something. Keep an eye out, Lieutenant, if it starts bleeding from any orifices we'll want to know." 

"I think I can manage that," Seivarden said, hauling herself up. "Okay, Ship, food first?"

 

Food presented some difficulties. Most of the public eateries were a good deal too public. Neither of them suggested skel. In the end Seivarden picked up a couple of portable protein wraps - apparently they were magenta-flavored, although she suspected she was reading the sign wrong - and they ate while walking. Ship had trouble coordinating both activities at once, or said it did anyway, so they were walking with linked elbows like teenagers. To help it balance. Obviously. 

"This," Ship said after chewing for a very long time, "is terrible. -No, Lieutenant, I didn't say I wasn't going to eat it." It took another bite, apparently totally focused on experiencing magenta-flavor to its fullest extent.

"As you like, Ship-" Seivarden had to admit it was awful in an interesting way, "but there are plenty of sensations which _aren't_ terrible, if you'd like to try some of them instead?"

"Now that you mention it," it said around another mouthful of whatever-it-was, "I have been meaning to raise the subject - the Gardens are hardly on the way to the docks, are they?"

"Well - no. But you've only seen them through us, so far. And they're very pretty."

"They are." Ship broke away from her and turned in place, face up, scanning the scenery with its own eyes. Seivarden followed its gaze to the waterfall and climbing trellises, and the distant sprinkling of stars beyond the windows. Mercy of Kalr, out there somewhere - no, they were probably on the wrong side. She looked back at Mercy of Kalr, here. It was still looking up, eyes wide, face lit up warm by the glow of the full-spectrum lamps. Seivarden wasn't any too clear on the details of how that face had been designed - someone had probably tried to explain to her at some point, but she had developed a protective ability to zone out when people started talking about genetic encoding by now - but someone somewhere had done a praiseworthy and artistic job. The cheekbones, especially, and the plump soft-looking curve of the lower lip- 

"I believe the citizens on the stepped balconette have formed an opinion about the nature of our relationship," Ship said without turning its head. Seivarden followed its eyeline and saw who it meant - a couple of old ladies looking down from the vine-entwined balustrade, with a definite air of 'fondly pointing out the adorable young lovers to each other.' She caught their eye across the distance. It was hard to tell, that far off, but she was pretty sure the one with the complicated hair had winked at her.

"I ought to have requisitioned better clothes," Ship said thoughtfully. "It hardly reflects well on my crew for my senior lieutenant to be seen with a citizen wearing the station free-issue."

"It would reflect well on me to be seen with you in leftover sacking," Seivarden said, as though Ship didn't know it, "but we could get you something new, too? If you like the idea of clothes shopping."

"Am I to take it that you're offering to buy me clothing, Lieutenant?" It was pretty impressive that it had already fine-tuned its eyebrow-raising to that extent with only a few hours practice. Seivarden ought to let the scientists know about it.

"Well, I was thinking we could put it on Breq's expense account," Seivarden said, and paused. "That didn't actually sound any better, did it."

"Not at all," Ship said, leaning back against her. Seivarden slipped her arm around its waist, to avoid disappointing the aunties. "It's a tempting idea, and I doubt she would mind, but perhaps another time. The rest of the crew will be waiting for updates."

Right, obviously Ship - of course it wanted to see the rest of the crew. Naturally that would be one of its first thoughts, even if Seivarden had gotten distracted thinking of things to show it. She nodded and stepped back. "Right, of course, I can call ahead-"

"It was very thoughtful of you to bring me here, Lieutenant," Ship said as though she wasn't speaking, "I appreciated it very much, and," now leaning forward and speaking directly into Seivarden's ear, "when the Fleet Captain returns, she can take us both out to buy clothes."

Which thought kept Seivarden occupied for the whole shuttle ride.

 

On board, the Kalrs had clearly been planning to greet their ship with a restrained and appropriate level of enthusiasm, and they lasted a whole nine seconds before Kalr Four said "Oh, Amaat's grace, fuck this," and went for the tackle-hug. Ship disappeared under a pile of delighted soldiers, and Seivarden left them to it. They would have more time together later, and she had things to do. Giving the Amaats leave to go get hugged by Ship too, for starters.

Rearranging the duty roster left her mind running on logistics, and something occurred to her. "Ship," she said silently from the decade room, "I hadn't thought at all about where you're going to sleep."

"The Kalrs would have me," Ship said silently back, "but there's still room in the Fleet Captain's bed. Although that might be improper while she's not with us. So," it continued lightly, "it will have to be yours, it seems." Oh, sure, obviously. Seivarden blushed and bit her lip and considered. Maybe she should get the Amaats to put clean sheets on the bed?

An unexpected incoming call distracted her. Being polite to Hetnys was both distracting and exhausting - Aatr's double-blessed tits, why was she even calling, did she just want an audience to bitch about whatever fucking feud she had on now, wasn't that the sort of thing she had Sword of Atagaris for? And then she had to figure out how to word an message to Breq that said both "please don't kneecap more people than necessary" and "please actually let us know if you need us to show up and be menacing" while still sounding nonoffensive in case of interception... By the time, hours later, that she made it to her quarters, it had almost slipped her mind that she wouldn't be alone there.

 

The lights had been dimmed to the lowest point and Ship's ancillary was curled up half under the blanket, stiller and more silent than a human would sleep. Seivarden sat on the edge of the bed with caution.

"You needn't worry about disturbing it, Lieutenant," Ship said, using the speakers this time, but softly and with a modulated voice.

"Getting back to sleep is hard enough, and you're out of practice," Seivarden said quietly back, and started unlacing her boots. She'd been in casual dress for the visit to Station - Breq liked to save full dress uniform for when she really wanted to intimidate someone - and it was easier to peel it off herself than to wait for an Amaat's help. "What's it like?" she added curiously. "Being asleep while you're conscious, I mean."

"A little odd. Mostly because there's only one of it, though. Everything it's experiencing feels out of proportion." The ancillary's breathing was slow and steady. "I wonder if the Fleet Captain felt something similar - but the circumstances were different, of course."

It wasn't a topic Seivarden felt qualified to comment on. "We'll uncork half a dozen more for you, and you can spread things out a bit," she said instead.

"The next one will have to be Sphene's," Ship said with practicality. "It really is vital to convince it that we have a workable solution. And the Swords will claim, not without justification, to feel slighted that they were passed over to placate the mad Notai warship. And Station has been very patient. It may be some time." 

"Isn't it wonderful having family," Seivarden said, dragging her shirt over her head and dropping it on the floor.

"Truly I thank Aatr in her compassion for this unexpected blessing," Ship said dryly. Seivarden set her earrings aside and tugged at the blankets to make space. She'd forgotten about the sheets, but apparently one of the Amaats had put fresh ones on anyway. She might be embarrassed about that when she was awake enough. 

"Been a while since I actually slept here," she mumbled. Drowsiness was weighing down her thoughts. "Wake me if we get anything from Breq, right?"

"Of course, Seivarden," Ship said, and clicked the lights off entirely. Seivarden let herself drift off. 

 

She woke up with a sudden disorienting jolt - where was she, who was _this_ , did she owe them money, did she have any idea where her things were - before her conscious mind caught up. Right. She was on board Mercy of Kalr, and she had her arm thrown over Mercy of Kalr and her face buried in the back of its neck, and she was warm and comfortable and remembered where she'd left her clothes. Too good to be true, clearly, and yet here they were.

Ship had one hand up and was stroking Seivarden's exposed forearm, less like an intimate gesture and more like it was curious about her wristbones, or possibly just testing its fingertips out. It stopped almost the moment she was awake, fingers resting on the edge of her wrist. "That's fine," Seivarden said muzzily, and "You didn't get a depilatory implant?" Which might have been a little abrupt, but in this position she could feel the fine new growth of stubble on its scalp and she'd suddenly been curious.

"There's no reason not to let its hair grow out," Ship said, and hesitated in the way Seivarden had learned to read as 'thinking about saying something else'. "...the Fleet Captain likes yours."

"No. Really? Ship, you're fucking with me."

"Would I? Don't tell her I told you."

"Confidentiality understood," Seivarden assured it. "When yours is long enough I'll braid it for you," she added recklessly.

Ship twisted around to look at her face-to-face. "I appreciate that sentiment, Lieutenant, but do you have any idea how to do that?" It reached and touched her hair, bare fingers brushing against her ear on the way.

"Hey, I used to do my own. Sometimes." Seivarden thought about how that had usually turned out. "I could get Amaat Two to teach me, maybe."

"Maybe," Ship murmured. Its hand had drifted and it was just touching her face now, fingertips drawing little circles on her forehead and cheek. Seivarden let her eyes flutter shut and took a slow deep breath. All right, one of them definitely had to say something.

"Um." Something more relevant, maybe. "Breq said to me once-" Ship had let its touch trail down her face, and when she spoke she could feel her lips brush against the pads of its fingers. It wasn't helping her conversational presence of mind any. "We were talking about, uh, ancillaries and sex, and she said it was something ships took care of by themselves, usually."

Ship pursed its lips in obvious imitation of the facial expression which Breq used to indicate 'thoughtful'. "Justice of Toren may have." It was still touching her mouth. "Individual approaches vary, as do the circumstances we find ourselves in. And ancillaries can react very differently to identical stimuli. But for myself - well, you're not the first officer I've ever been fond of, Lieutenant." Aw, love you too, Ship. "There have been times before now when I liked some member of my crew and wished, for their own sake, to see to their comfort. And at times this could be conveniently combined with the upkeep of the ancillary bodies. Necessary shipboard maintenance, in fact. Which is an idea that appeals to you, isn't it?" it said with certainty, pressing its thumb against her lower lip. "Performing equipment maintenance?"

"Well-" Seivarden hurriedly examined that thought for errors. "I want to be useful to you," she said a little plaintively.

"A commendable attitude, Lieutenant," Ship said seriously, and kissed her.

A certain amount of nose-bumping fumbling followed. It always took Seivarden a minute or two to settle down into kissing, and Ship was clearly out of practice in addition to being a little overenthusiastic with its tongue, but it wasn't like they were in a hurry. Seivarden reached out blindly and pulled it closer. They stayed there for a while, kissing contentedly in the warm tangle of blankets, Seivarden rubbing circles on its shoulder.

She had to pull away eventually to catch her breath. Ship took the opportunity to shove the blankets aside and then climbed on top of her, hands planted either side of her shoulders, and studied her intently. It had pretty eyes, irises almost the same color as Breq's but not quite as dark. "As for ancillary bodies reacting to stimuli," it said, interrupting Seivarden's mental attempt to find a good poetic quote about that color - what was a classical education for if not to give you romantic things to say during sex, dammit - "I can't say for sure yet how this one will behave."

"Well," Seivarden said, matching its serious tone, "if this turns out to do nothing for it physically, I can always take care of matters myself. And you can sit across the room and interrupt me whenever I'm about to be finished."

Ship leaned down, bit her earlobe very carefully, and whispered "You like it when I do that, Lieutenant," into her ear.

"Maybe a little." Fine, maybe it reduced her to a needy desperate puddle and they both knew it. Seivarden kissed it one more time, said "Anyway," and half-rolled herself off the bed, untangling herself from the sheets with difficulty, and winding up on her knees on the floor by the bedside. She rested her elbows on the mattress. "We were talking about equipment maintenance, weren't we? You shouldn't let me sit around chattering all night when there are diagnostics to run."

"You set such a good example for the other officers," Ship said, pulling itself up into sitting position, and also redirecting Seivarden's mental flight plan. 

"Uh, speaking of other officers you've been fond of, should I have invited Ekalu?"

"There's a limit to how much coordination I can manage on the first day," Ship said dryly, "and at any rate it would be better to let Ekalu make that suggestion-" It stopped abruptly when Seivarden kissed its ankle, and parted its knees to let her get between them.

"I'll trust your judgment on that, then," Seivarden said, kissed the inside of its thigh, and kept going. Ship had put itself to bed in a nightshirt without anything under it, which was convenient, and the ancillary body certainly didn't seem to be having any trouble reacting. She started in slow and careful with the flat of her tongue and felt Ship shudder against her. "Let me know if I should be making any technique adjustments," she said silently to Ship, and focused again on her task.

She had always liked doing this. Even in her youth, when her social position had meant it wasn't always appropriate for her to be the one on her knees, she had found excuses when she could. Even if it meant losing prestige it had been worth it, nothing else gave you quite the same feeling of hot satisfaction - the sheets were rustling, because one of Ship's hands was gripping at the edge of the mattress. It sent a hot liquid rush through Seivarden's own nervous system. She had gone to sleep in her underclothes and she was becoming very aware of the pressure of the cloth against her skin.

"Hold on," Ship said, and tugged her away by the hair, not far. Its voice was gratifyingly shaky. "Not that I have any complaints to make about the preliminary results, but don't neglect your own oxygen requirements. It won't do either of us much good if you pass out now."

"Wouldn't be easy to explain to Medic," Seivarden said, raspily because she was in fact pretty breathless. Although on second thought it would probably be all too easy to explain to Medic, and it wouldn't even be the most embarrassing sex-related... she put that thought aside firmly and pulled Ship's hand to her lips. Her mouth felt slick and swollen, and she made a deliberate teasing show of it, sucking on its fingertips like she'd never heard of propriety and mistrusted the entire concept. Ship's free hand dug sharply into the sheets again.

"Feel free to resume at your own pace, Lieutenant," Ship said, silently this time, words flashing at the top of her vision. Seivarden obliged, feeling a little smug. It put its hands on her head again, careful at first and then firm, fingers splayed out on both sides of her skull. Seivarden let it direct her and let her mind settle into a warm haze. If she liked the idea of being used, of being something Ship specifically could use - it was okay, Ship hadn't minded, it was okay if she got hot from that idea. She badly wanted to touch herself, but she was used to waiting for permission and Ship knew it -

It inhaled sharply and tensed up in one harsh muscular spasm, fingertips digging in, thigh muscles clamping down hard. Seivarden forgot to breathe again. 

After a long while, its fingers relaxed and it said with a catch in its voice "Better stop now, that's rapidly becoming oversensitive." Seivarden pulled off and belatedly remembered about breathing. Oxygen, yes, vitally important. She sat back on her heels, looked around, and grabbed her discarded shirt from earlier to wipe her sopping-wet face with. "Well, Ship, what's the verdict?"

"Oh, adequate, I suppose," Ship said airily, then pulled her back in and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "You've been a good girl, Seivarden, well done," it murmured into her hair. Seivarden buried her face in its thigh as if that would hide her embarrassed pleasure. Ship petted her hair again and then scooted back, yanking her up with it, until it had its back against the wall and she was sort of half-straddling its lap.

"You don't have to - I mean, don't feel obliged if you're tired out," Seivarden said although Ship had shown no inclination to stop, and was running its hands down her torso as she spoke.

"I will certainly keep that in mind, Lieutenant," Ship said, stopping to prod delicately at her nipples. It was more of a curious touch than a sexy one, which didn't stop the feeling that Seivarden's spine had been briefly electrified. "But we were speaking earlier of maintenance. And I do consider you - all of you - to be, in a way, part of me. It would be irresponsible of me, therefore, to leave you in this condition. How would I explain myself to the Fleet Captain?" Seivarden giggled helplessly at that and buried her face in its shoulder, and Ship, apparently feeling that that covered the preliminaries, shoved one hand into her underwear.

She'd been painfully turned on for too long, and she whimpered into its neck half from the desperate relief of it and half from embarrassment- she was aching and _wet_ and it was getting its _hands_ messy - oh, fuck, that was hot - Ship tilted her head with its free hand and ran its tongue along the edge of her ear, lightly. It had definitely picked that up from Ekalu, and it made Seivarden see sparks as reliably as always. "Fuck," she said helplessly. "Ship, may I-"

"In your own time," Ship said to her quietly, cupping the back of her head. Seivarden dragged in a shaky breath and pushed forward against its hand, graceless and desperate. 

She came embarrassingly quickly once she had permission to, clutching at Ship's shoulders and breathing in ragged gasps. Ship murmured something nonsensically soothing in her ear and didn't move its hands away until, after a long while, she finally caught her breath enough to mumble "Okay, I'm all right." She considered that. "Except I don't think I can move. Blessed Amaat have _mercy_."

"I'd say this has gone fairly well for an initial trial," Ship said, radiating smugness.

"Extremely well. Uh. You aren't planning on giving Sphene details of everything, are you?"

"Certainly not." Ship rearranged them both on the bed, and Seivarden went with it bonelessly. "It might start telling me about _its_ sex life, and I hope I never need to know that much about the Translators. Better get some more sleep if you can, Lieutenant, I've kept you awake far longer than advisable."

"Worth it," Seivarden said, wrapped her arms around it again, and drifted off after only a few minutes of sleepy, horrified speculation on what exactly Sphene and Zeiat _did_ get up to.

 

She was dreaming about Breq, and Breq was saying "-wake her if her shift's not for another hour," which seemed strange. It was strange, she realized, struggling back to consciousness, because it wasn't dream-Breq but real, actual Breq, standing by her bedside. She looked exhausted, but all her limbs were still attached, which was about as much as you could hope for with Breq.

"Hey." Seivarden blinked and tried to pull herself together. "Sir. Since when are you back?"

"We sent a message ahead, but there seems to have been a broken relay," Breq said, sitting down heavily on the edge of the bed. "And we're returning tomorrow. Tisarwat needs to be back in a week to officiate at a religious festival. She's been appointed a priestess of Amaat Incarnate as the Sun Immediately Before Rising, by the way. Which enabled her to apply some very precise political leverage at an opportune moment, but it's mostly a ceremonial position. There's a truly astonishing outfit, though." She set her unlaced boots on the floor, considered the rest of her clothes, and apparently gave up. "Move over." 

"The sheets are kind of a mess," Seivarden said apologetically.

"I'm not at all surprised." Breq yanked at the blanket underneath her. "The two of you have been enjoying yourself?"

"Immensely," Ship said through the ancillary body, voice thick with sleep. "But we're glad to have you back, sir." Seivarden made an assenting noise and tried to scoot over. There wasn't really enough room for three people, and she wondered if she should offer to leave - Ekalu wouldn't mind if Seivarden slept in her bed while she was on the bridge, and Breq and Ship might want the time to themselves.

Breq settled that by throwing her arm over Seivarden, groping around until she got Ship's hand, and lacing their fingers together, so that Seivarden couldn't move without disturbing the entire comfortable pile. Well, in that case. 

"I'm glad to be back, too," Breq said, muffling it in Seivarden's shoulder so she could pretend nobody had heard her having an emotion. Seivarden nudged her.

"Do we get to hear more about this priestess outfit?"

"Words can't do it justice. Especially not the headpiece. You'll have to come back with us and see it in person," Breq concluded. "Go back to _sleep_ , Seivarden."

"Anything you say," Seivarden said, and drifted off again. It was much easier to sleep now, because Breq had started humming softly again. It was comfortable, Seivarden thought, already more than half asleep again, to know for sure that she was exactly where she was supposed to be.


End file.
